2. ice breakers ice cubes gumit's sugar-free and has an awesome bubble gum consistency that i just can't get enough of....and the container fits in my car cup holder, which is rad.

3. marpac dohm sound machinei can't think of a product that i have been devoted to and boarder line obsessed with for as long as i have the dohm. i am a very light sleeper and the dohm creates the perfect white noise that takes away all of the little house and outside noises that would usually awake me from my sleep. it is the perfect nursery room addition (my kids still sleep with one) and i *never* travel without one (hotel noise can be the worst). every home should have one.

4. bobbi brown long-wear cream shadow sticki like looking nice and wearing make-up, but i am pretty lazy when it comes to make-up application and all of the work that can go into it. bobbi brown shadow sticks have seriously changed my beauty world. no brush required at all. it's so easy to apply, you can layer colors and the cream shadow is long lasting, so no re-applying in the middle of the day. they are quickly becoming a make-up bag must.

5. mophie juice pack protective battery casei don't know about you, but i am on my phone all the time and my battery rarely lasts all day. the mophie case provides you with an extra built-in battery that allows you to utilize your phone's features long after the regular battery runs out while also providing protection for the phone. the extra battery provides up to an additional 8 hours talk time, 8 hours internet browsing, 40 hours audio playback and 10 hours video playback. it has changed my world.

6. magna-tiles® if i had to think of one kids toy that the entire family enjoys, regardless of their age, it's magna-tiles. both of my boys are always making amazing creations out of these magnetic building blocks and everyone that comes over, from aunts and uncles to grandparents and classmates, are drawn to these addicting building tiles. i personally love the hours of play it provides and joint family time together creating.

7. kid'sleep globetrotteraffectionately called "lambie" in our home, this little lamb clock has made my world a happy one. the globetrotter has many benefits, as a night light, wake up indicator for young children and an alarm clock for older children. it helps young children have an understanding of when it is time to get out of bed and when it is not. my kids now stay in bed until it is time to get up. if the sleeping sheep is lit, kids know to stay in bed. when the awake sheep is illuminated, it is okay to get out of bed and start the day. it's portable too which makes it awesome for travel. if you have trouble getting your kids to stay in bed, like i did, try this. it worked for me. truly.

disclaimer: although we received some products for free, many are purchased on our own dime and *all* are products that we love and the opinions are all our own.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

someday. someday i'll go to the bathroom alone and eat a hot meal. someday i'll miss all of this. for now, i just dream of someday. if you haven't seen our other "someday" posts, you can catch them all here. they will make you feel so much better about your day.

Monday, October 20, 2014

i love bacon. who doesn't, really? as much as i love to partake in the eating of said bacon.....the cooking of it is another matter. on the stove top or in the microwave are both messy. a friend told me about how their family now only cooks bacon in the oven....so i decided to give it a try. i'm hooked. i will never do it any other way. truly. it was simple and left the bacon crispy and caramelized. bacon heaven.crispy oven cooked bacon

instructions

arrange the bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet (this makes clean-up a breeze). lay the bacon on the baking sheet in a single layer. (i like to twist the bacon so that it takes less space).

place the baking sheet of bacon in the oven and bake until the bacon is wonderfully golden-brown and crispy, which will take approximately 20 minutes. (exact baking time will depend on the thickness of the bacon and how crispy you like it. begin checking around 12-15 minutes to monitor how quickly the bacon is cooking.

remove the bacon from the oven and use tongs to transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and finish crisping. serve immediately.

let us know what you think. personally, i'm never going back to my stove top and micro ways....

Saturday, October 18, 2014

four boys, one girl. that's the line up that makes up my family. my precious daughter is my second born and, while i love my sweet boys to distraction, i always thought i would have one more daughter in the mix. each new pregnancy, i would look at the tubs full of baby clothes in the rafters of my garage, pink tubs on one side, blue ones on the other and i would wonder, and hope. each year that went by brought another beautiful boy. i’m grateful, truly grateful for my army of little men but, until recently, i couldn’t bear the thought of parting with those pink tubs.

those tubs were full of promise, of hopes, of memories. they were full of all my wishes for daughters that never came. they are full of the questions, “was that one early miscarriage a baby girl? would that baby have been the one? if i had one more, would that one be a girl?” those tubs are full of precious moments of my daughter’s life that went by much too fast. they are unending emotions stored in cheap plastic and they were impossible for me to give away.

each consignment sale that came along, i would open the tubs, pull out some clothes, and then hastily put the tubs away. it was impossible for me to close the door on all those wishes and memories. and so, i waited for another year, another year, another baby, another year.

we have decided we are done having kids. we are closing the door on diaper duty, bottles and cribs. we are embracing the next chapter of our lives and those pink tubs were still staring at me. my husband would gently suggest that it was maybe time to find a place for all those beautiful clothes, to make some room in the garage, to close that door. still, it was too difficult.

a few months ago a friend of mine had his first daughter…and i did the impossible. i packed up bags of baby girl clothes and drove them to a church service where i could find him and his wife. piece by piece i showed them what they were getting. i wanted to say, “this is the pair of pajamas she was wearing when she took her first step. this is the dress she wore for her first easter. these are the pants she learned how to crawl in. she said ‘mama’ for they first time wearing this shirt. i never even had a chance to take her picture in this. i thought i would be able to use these another time.” i wanted to somehow communicate that these weren’t just clothes, these were my memories and hopes held in plastic bags. i wanted them to know the weight of those simple items of clothing but i kept my mouth closed. i handed a piece of my heart over in grocery bags and i walked away…and i cried all the way home.

by the time i got home i had pulled myself together. i hugged my daughter and my sweet boys and i smiled. i was so proud of myself that i had taken that step forward, that step toward moving on. it was a piece of letting go.

a couple of weeks ago, as i was scrolling through facebook, a picture caught my eye. there among the fall pictures sat an image of a sweet baby girl in an apple dress and onesie that i knew well. she was happy and smiling and absolutely precious and, in that moment, those clothes became more. they were not just my memories in cloth form, they were the memories for someone else. that is the dress that baby wore to her first trip to pick apples. those are pictures that family will look back on and smile. that dress will fill another photo book, another picture frame, another family’s memories. there is healing in that moment, in saying goodbye to tangible things that hold intangible memories.

in reality, i know that the clothes don’t matter, that they don’t hold the key to the memories or the loss of time. still, i never realized how difficult it would be to let those go…or the comfort that would come in seeing them alive in the heart of someone else. and so, i’ll do it again. i’ll give away clothes, i’ll refrain from telling stories, and i’ll wait to see pictures of my heart in cloth become memories for someone else.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

this is the easiest recipe ever! it literally has two ingredients and can be made in a snap. my kids devour these (seriously, they have actually eaten so many that one of them got sick). they take two seconds and they are the perfect fall treat. enjoy!

two ingredient pumpkin-spice muffins

1 box spice cake mix

1 small can of pumpkin

mix the two ingredients well. this will take some time as the spice cake mix sometimes takes a while to break down into the pumpkin.

spray or line a muffin pan. spoon mixture into muffin pans and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

the time has come to shop for halloween costumes (my favorite). i love shopping on etsy for the uniqueness and creativity......plus, you get to support a small business owner.....a win-win in my book. here are my picks for best halloween costumes of the year: